15 September 2008

Jet2.com claims record half year results

Low fares airline Jet2.comÃ¢â¬â¢s parent company Dart Group has released profit figures for the first five months of the year.

The group, which comprises the airline and chilled distribution company Fowler Welch-Coolchain, is expected to deliver a pre-tax profit of more than Ã&#pound;30 million.

Full year results are forecast to be in advance of current market expectations, a statement added.

No financial breakdown was given between the airline and the distribution arm.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœBy focusing on its core European leisure routes, our scheduled airline, Jet2.com, is delivering improved yields coupled with load factors on these routes in excess of 90% in the peak months,Ã¢â¬~ the statement said.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœTrading performance has been supported by increased charter volumes, strong cost control, and a conservative approach to fuel hedging.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœOur ATOL-protected holidays company, Jet2holidays.com, continues to grow strongly by meeting our customers' demand for a package holiday from their local airport.Ã¢â¬~

Philip Meeson, chief executive of the northern-based carrier, said: "We have had another great summer, our aircraft have been full and we have made record profits, in fact we are expecting our parent company's half-year profits to be in excess of Ã&#pound;30 million.

"We have been able to hedge our fuel, plan ahead and ensure we offer Jet2.com's low fares to our customers' favourite European leisure destinations from our six regional UK bases. And we have recorded our best ever load factors Ã¢â¬' in excess of 90 per cent.

"Our ATOL-protected package holiday business, Jet2holidays.com, has also had another bumper year."

Referring recent airline and operator failures, he added: "The airlines and tour operators that have had problems have been those with a bias towards transatlantic and long haul flights, as was the case with Zoom, Silverjet and XL, each of which operated frequent scheduled services to several destinations in North America, and this is an entirely different market to ours."

by Phil Davies